“You’ll need all our mines.” Steele uncrossed his arms and guffawed. “Plus at least three bases of fire elements to establish overlapping kill zones. Haven’t you ever conducted a compound ambush against a large mobile element before?” He reached over to Kat and finally snagged the notebook away, tossing it immediately to his Executive Officer.
“Stewart, strip our most reliable truck down to nothing but a little fuel, water, and a radio.”
“Sir, you need me here…”
“With just a driver, you should be able to fly back to friendly lines. You’ve got 48 hours to convince HQ of how much shit’s about to hit the fan. If you can’t, don’t keep beating your head against the wall. Go back to our unit and scramble all the patrols. Round up as many deserters as possible. We’ll rally back here in three days.”
The Executive Officer closed his eyes, practically a scream by his standards, and sighed. “What if you don’t make it? We’ll never find you again.”
“Then we’ll all have much bigger problems. Just save however many men you can. With luck, you’ll get a recall order from on high. Or you might never hear another English voice over that radio again. Just keep harassing the German rear area no matter what. Don’t let their victory come cheap.”
“WILCO, sir.” Stewart snapped a razor-sharp salute at the Captain. Steele blinked at the rare show of emotion from the ironman and helped him strip down his truck.
Kat took her time strolling back to the jeep. With everyone’s back turned, she leaned against Dore’s shoulder.
“Thanks for having my back, Wolf Man. I don’t care what they say. You’re a good bloke.”
Dore snaked a hand around her shoulder and awkwardly patted her head.
“Can’t have you hogging up all the medals, kid. One little question though. Why’d you tell that Kraut that you were the daughter of Oberführer Pernass? I thought your last name was Wolfram.”
She skidded to a halt. “Since when do you speak German?”
“I don’t. I heard Trufflefoot muttering about it. You really seemed to spook him.”
“That old… so and so needs to learn how to keep his mouth shut. Look, Pernass is my,” she choked on the word, “stepfather. My real father sired me on leave. He never made it back from the Great War. Long story.”
Dore took a step back at the venom in her voice. “All right, I won’t pry.” He chuckled as Kat sauntered off.
“So, you’re an army brat too, eh? That sure explains things.”
Kat swung her ponytail around, eyes as fiery as her hair. “Something like that. Play your cards right, and maybe you’ll get to meet him soon. Make sure you shoot first though, he’s a sneaky one. Taught me everything I know about a gun.”
Dore scowled and then laughed at her quirky sense of humor. “Meeting your pa’ already? Gahd, you move fast!” He pantomimed, firing some air pistols as she wagged a finger and hurried off.
END OF PART TWO
PART THREE IS INCLUDED WITH
PORTALS IN TIME PART THREE
Portals in Time 2 Page 17